The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-01-27
Remarkable Climatic Charges


The arid zone. the land that has 90
long resisted the encroachment of set,
tiers. and whose only crop for MANY
years was bankrupts, is now being
rapidly settled, writes Il Salina. Kan,
correspondent of the New York >u3,
During the past year almost POO, 900
people settled on that portion of it
which lies In Kansas. The rain belt
has moved westward far beyond the
Tooth meridian, or, to be more accurate,
a new rain belt has been created For
thirteen years. from 1870 to 1888. men
entered the arid zone, built houses.
plowed the prairie sod. sowed grain,
and attempted to farm They lost their
money. their time. and. in many cases,
their courage. Many OF these men re-
turned east to live on their wives rela-
tives. Other men took the abandoned
houses and arid farms, and in time
these, too. became bankrupt and return
ed to the east or pushed westward to
the highlands. All men of intelligence
knew that the arid zone was unfit for
agricultural purposes. They knew that
the physical coniiguration of the land
lying west of the arid belt, and which
changed. The settlers, eager for land
and homes, continued to pour into the
dry region. At last they have been re-
warded. They have secured three con-
secutiye crops of grain, and the fourth
crop of wheat is in sight So much
rain now falls in the eastern portion of
what was once the arid belt that it is
no longer fit for winter range for cattle
If sufficient rain falls to wash the nutri-
ment out of the grass then there is suffi-
cient rainfall TO grow wheat to perfect
maturity.
During the three years last passed the
winter-wheat producing belt has been
pushed westward almost 800 miles At
least 25, 100000 acres have been added
to the area of the American winter
wheat growing field. The land is
virgin. 1t produces No. winter-wheat
1t now looks as though the arid zone
was to be the great winter-wheat pro-
ducing country.
What has wrought the change in the
climate of eastern Colorado and western
Kansas? That question can not be ac-
curately answered. The winds blow
from the same direction they formerly
did, but they are not sirocco-like. The
transforms come from the west, gener-
ally, and in the past the west wind was
dry wind. In my opinion the change
is due TO the extensive irrigation of the
land lying along the eastern base of the
Rocky mountains. Great rivers, which
head in the perpetual snow-banks oil
those mighty ranges, have been turned
into irrigation bitches, and the water
which formerly ran wasteful1y 10 the
Gulf of Mexico has been turned on TO
the arid plains. There it soaks into the
soil. The wind sweeping over the land
sucks up large portion of it. There is
moisture in the air, and it is precipitated
as ram on the plains of eastern Col
orado and western Kansas. So exten-
sively is irrigation practiced in Colorado
that almost all the water was taken out
OF the South Platte river last year Fifty
miles eastward from Denver the stream
was tiny rill. As it is with the South
Platte, so it is with less important
of larger volume.
The system of irrigation which has
been applied to the land lying along
the eastern base OF the Rocky mountains
is now being applied to the western
slope and TO the arid basin lying be-
tween the Rocky mountains and the
Sierra Nevada range. In a few wears
the water which now flows wastefully
into the Colorado and the Columbia
will be taken from the branches OF
those large streams and used to irrigate
arid land. 1t is highly probable that
the climate of the whole Rocky noun
tain region will be changed in the near
future, and changed by the irrigation OF
the land lying west of It. More rain
will fall in the highlands during the
summer. The streams which drain the
eastern slopes will remain full longer.
More water will be expended on the
plains, and more rain will fall in Col
orado and eastern Kansas. The arid
zone will practically disappear.